The Soul Keeper

It took Erik and the others quite a long time to finish the two quests they were given. By the time they returned to the inn, I was about to fall asleep of boredom. My only pastime as I sat in the common room was watching the customers come and leave.

"We finally made it!" Shouted Erik, startling me and basically every other customer in the common room as the group finally arrived. "Kai!" He called my name with a huge grin on his face. They approached me and placed a large pouch on the table. I heard the muffled sound of metal coins hitting the table.

"Keep your voice low!" I hissed, glancing around. All eyes were on us and I was sick of that feeling. Erik just shrugged and pulled himself a chair to sit on. "Don't worry about it." He said with a grin. "I've got some news for you!"

I raised my eyebrows as the others also took their places around the table. "So," Joshua chimed in before Erik could explain. "Just as we came back to the city, this young woman approached us and gave us a flyer." He put a familiar parchment on the table.

"Hell no." I said as soon as I saw the tournament flyer. "Are you insane?"

The group stared at me for a second before Erik laughed. "Why are you so worried, Kai? It's just a friendly tournament. Besides," He added with a grin. "We'll meet other players this way."

"And what makes you think that's a good thing?" I hissed through my clenched teeth. Victoria's words about Erik were still very much in my mind. While it would be completely unreasonable, I wouldn't be surprised at all if other players blamed him for being trapped in this world – this game.

"If we want to kill the demon lord and get out of here, we will need more people." Erik said without even a moment of hesitation. "I told you, that's not a feat we can accomplish by ourselves."

I clenched my firsts. I hated to admit it, but he had a point. I still clearly remembered Vixia and Delthur's power. Even as I am now, I wasn't a match for them. Not really. I still had a ways to go for that. And I couldn't even imagine just how powerful the demon lord was.

With a sigh I shook my head. "Erik, I don't think a tournament is the right way to go about this."

"I think it's perfect." He said. Samantha hesitated a moment before chiming in. "Kai, a girl just ran up to us and gave us the flyer. Remember what I said about the game guiding us?" I flinched. Was she still going on about that?

"I think this is it." She continued, her eyes gleaming with hope. "I think we need to join the tournament and win."

I hesitated. That... made little to no sense. I mean, she had a point – the game did kind of made sure we were aware of the tournament and even encouraged us to partake in it. But I didn't really see that as the game guiding us to some greater goal or something. But looking at the expressions of others, I could tell they believed in that too. Only Vincent seemed somewhat unsure, but I knew he'd go along with them to avoid conflict.

"We can still get wounded and potentially die." I warned them, hoping that would discourage them, but they didn't seem to be phased by my words. "I can't talk you out of it, can I?" I asked in despair. They smiled and shook their heads.

"Though, Alina won't be taking part." Said Erik suddenly. I raised my eyebrows. I was glad that they were looking out for her, but I couldn't help but find it a bit odd.

"Apparently, magic is forbidden." Vincent explained, seeing my confused expression. "It's almost impossible to stop a magical attack – like a wizard's fireball – once it's used, so there would be too many deaths, according to the girl who gave us the flyer."

I nodded, that made sense. In that case, Alina would have no role to play during the tournament either. "I won't be joining either." Samantha said. "Only teams of four are allowed and you're a much better choice than me."

I chuckled. "Well, no-" I hesitated. "Uh, yeah." I said suddenly. Most people didn't have any proper technique when it came to wielding their weapons. Despite my low rank in our family's training hall, I still had an incredible advantage over most people.

"That's the spirit!" Erik said with a grin and patted my back. I couldn't help but smile.

Our evening passed, filled with laughter and planning. Though as the hours passed and time to head to sleep approached, I couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed – mainly because Victoria hadn't shown up. With a deep breath, I decided to tackle this issue tomorrow, after the first rounds of the tournament.

My mind was filled with disjointed thoughts when we bid each other good night and went to bed. Exhausted from all the events of today, I welcomed the sweet, dark embrace of sleep.

I woke up at dawn as my body had gotten used to it by now. Once again deciding that I hated the colour scheme of this city, I went downstairs for some breakfast. The others soon joined me, though our mood was not as high as it was yesterday.

The pressure of partaking in a tournament was slowly affecting Erik, Vincent, and Joshua. I was also slightly on edge, though my nervousness had a different source than theirs. Soon, we left the inn and headed to the central plaza, where the Divine Pillar reached for the sky.

"The tournament will take place in that huge building over there." Vincent told me as we descended the stairs. He pointed towards a tall, circular building. It was massive and the design reminded me of coliseums.

We passed through the plaza silently – it was almost creepy with only us and the guards here. Most residents were probably already in the coliseum. It took us a while to reach the massive building. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝑐𝘰𝓂

"Welcome." An Ereth greeted us. He wore white plate armour that created a weird contrast with his green-black skin. "Please show your identification."

We did as he said and after a short while, he led us to a simple room. Of course, Alina and Samantha weren't allowed to come with us, as they weren't participating. Another Ereth led them to the stands so they could watch our battles.

"Erik," I said as the door closed behind them. "This all happened too fast. I still don't think this is a good idea." The young paladin grinned.

"Stop worrying so much and try to enjoy yourself a bit. This will be fun!" He said, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"But-"

"Kai, come on. Just play along for now." He said, cutting me off.

I gave up on trying to convince him.

Half an hour or so later – though it felt like several hours – the Ereth came back and led us through a narrow hall to a large, metal door. "You're the first match of the day. Good luck!" He said as we heard a muffled announcement.

"Please welcome, Team Reapers!" The sound of a roaring crowd and clapping followed the announcement. Then, the large metal door before us creaked open as we once again heard the announcer's voice. "Please welcome, Team Torchlight!"